Greece's Papastathopoulos drops out
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Article summary
AEK Athens FC defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos has been omitted from the 23-man Greece squad for next month's final tournament by coach Otto Rehhagel.
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Emerging talents
Rehhagel took 24 players with him to the training camp in Frankfurt this week and, as many had predicted, opted to leave the 19-year-old defender out of his final squad. Papastathopoulos will nevertheless be expected to return to the international fold when Greece begin their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign early next season, along with other emerging talents like Sotiris Ninis, Grigorios Makos and Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, all of whom have been blooded in recent friendlies but failed to make the cut for Austria and Switzerland.
Hungary defeat
Rehhagel will be looking for a marked improvement in Greece's last preparation game against Armenia in Offenbach on Sunday having seen the defending European champions lose 3-2 to Hungary last time out. First-choice goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis is continuing to receive treatment for a groin problem but has been included in the 23-man party, while experienced midfielders Georgios Karagounis and Angelos Basinas have resumed training after recovering from injuries. Greece will leave Germany for their base in Salzburg next Tuesday.
Greece squad
Goalkeepers: Antonios Nikopolidis (Olympiacos CFP), Konstantinos Chalkias (Aris Thessaloniki FC), Alexandros Tzorvas (OFI Crete FC).
Defenders: Sotirios Kyrgiakos (Eintracht Frankfurt), Giourkas Seitaridis (Club Atlético de Madrid), Traianos Dellas (AEK Athens FC), Loukas Vintra (Panathinaikos FC), Nikolaos Spiropoulos (Panathinaikos FC), Ioannis Goumas (Panathinaikos FC), Vassilis Torosidis (Olympiacos CFP), Christos Patsatzoglou (Olympiacos CFP), Paraskevas Antzas (Olympiacos CFP).
Midfielders: Angelos Basinas (RCD Mallorca), Stelios Giannakopoulos (Bolton Wanderers FC), Georgios Karagounis (Panathinaikos FC), Alexandros Tziolis (Panathinaikos FC), Konstantinos Katsouranis (SL Benfica).
Forwards: Dimitrios Salpingidis (Panathinaikos FC), Nikolaos Liberopoulos (AEK Athens FC), Theofanis Gekas (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Georgios Samaras (Celtic FC), Ioannis Amanatidis (Eintracht Frankfurt), Angelos Charisteas (1. FC Nürnberg).
